Francesca Poston was born in New York City, New York. Her parents are
actor
Tom Poston and actress/dancer
Jean Sullivan. At age 3, she moved with her
mother to Majorca, Spain, returning a year later. At age 5, she again
moved with her mother, this time to Rome, Italy and was enrolled in an
Italian school for the year. Returning to New York, she attended
"L'Ecole Francaise", a bilingual school where all the classes were
taught in both French and English. At age 6, her mother, an ex-dancer
and actress (Principal with the American Ballet Theatre and Flamenco),
enrolled her at the "Ballet Arts" school at neighboring Carnegie Hall
studios. At age 12, she transferred to the Professional Children's
School, also in Manhattan where children working in the Arts could
pursue their careers while completing their education. At age 14, after
studying dance all over Manhattan - (Frank Wagner-Jazz and Richard
Thomas-Richard Thomas), Francesca was accepted at
George Balanchine's "School of
American Ballet", located in the Julliard building adjacent to Lincoln
Center. At this same time, she did her first television commercial, for
"Crest" toothpaste. At age 16, she did her first modeling job, posing
for a series of interviews and photos in "17" Magazine, featuring young
actresses and dancers. Over the years, Francesca continued to do
commercials. Her sixteenth summer, she left New York to attend the
"Rosella Hightower" school of Dance in Cannes, France, where she took
an intensive course in not just Ballet, but also Modern Dance and Jazz.
At age 17, she decided to focus on acting. After studying acting at the
"
Stella Adler School", where she also studied Shakespeare with
Mario Siletti, she
was hired to work with the American Shakespeare Festival, where they
performed "Romeo and Juliet" at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New
Jersey and, again, at the American Shakespeare Festival, in Stratford,
Connecticut. At the Festival, they also performed "A Winters' Tale" and
"Our Town" and "The Tavern and the Raven" at the "New Play Series".
Francesca then left for London to study with the "British American
Acting Academy" with teachers from the Royal Shakespeare Company, RADA
and LAMDA.
Back in New York, Off-Broadway Theatre credits include "Felice and
Carlina"-Teatro Del Sol, "'tis Pity She's a Whore"- the Rough and Holy
Theatre Company, and "Moby Dick", "East Lynne" and "The Forced
Marriage"- The South Street Theatre Co. She did stints on ABC's
All My Children (1970)
and
Search for Tomorrow (1951). Studying Improv and performing with 2nd City's
Tamara Wilcox-Smith,
and performing at "The Improv" and "The Comedy Store", she met and
married
George S. Clinton, a singer, songwriter and keyboard player, whom she
also recorded and sang with. Their relationship lasted only five years.
She also spent three months studying International Theatre in Avignon,
France for the "Festival Des Arts". Film work has included
The Apple (1980) -
Cannon, Floating World"-Independent and "Pray TV".
She appeared on
St. Elsewhere (1982) and
Busting Loose (1977) before opting to return to college
and finally get her BA. Her new fiancée- Chris was a talented drummer,
and didn't want her to leave Hollywood, so she opted to attend a local
school - Loyola Marymount University, where she finally received her
beloved BA in English Literature. After graduating college, she and
Chris broke up after a lengthy engagement. Her muted love of music
reared up during an epiphany wherein a Bibi King television special
followed
Kenneth Branagh's brilliant adaptation of "Henry V". As much as she
adorned the production, Bibi melted her soul. It helped that after she
and Chris had broken up, she had fallen in love with a Jazz musician,
who had opened her ears and her heart. Francesca went on to attend
Hollywood's "Musician's Institute" where she took the summer GIT
(Guitar) program, and then graduated from the Vocational Degree in
Music Program for Voice (VIT). Since then, she has appeared in Clubs
all over Los Angeles.